Improved method op propelling gars



that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which nilh enable those` @inviten gisten @anni @ffice IMPROVD METHOD OP PROPBLLING GARS.

@in Stirbt-lt ruimt tu in that Etnies @nient mit mating pnt nf iig sume,

Be' it known that I, CHARLES T. HARVEY, of Tarrytown, in the county .ofWestchestexg and State ofNew York, have invented a new' and useful Improvement in Propelling `Cars or Vehicles; and I do hereby declare skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had tothe-accompanying drawing, forming` part 4of this specification, in which'- Y i `Figure 1 is a vertical axial section of an apparalius which shows my improvement.

Figure 2 is a plan or top view.

Figure 3'is`a' side view of so much thereof as shows how a propelling cable is `conducted into and out of a cable guide. i I

Figure 4 is a topview of the interior of a. returnv conducting pipe or guide, showing three different modes of construction, to suit different cablehe`ads or ferrules.

Figures 5, 6, and 'l are crass-sections at x, y, and e, respectively, of the pipe or guide shown in fig. 4. This invention relates to the propulsion of cars or other vehicles, or of vessels, and it is applicable to pro'- 'l polling or moving cars on railways whose tracks are elevated above the surface of the ground, and also to thosewhose tracks are upon the. surface or beneath the surface, The invention consists, an1'ong other things, in a novel mode of operating 'or giving motion tothe propelling cable or chain' by means of a. driving-drum' or pulley, about which the cable or chain is wound one or more times, in a spiral course between the threads of a sniral guide which'surrounds the drum or Vpulley wholly or partly.

The letter A designates a. d riving-drumor pulley, which maybe placedrbeneath the surface ofthe ground, in a chamber excavated for the purpose, or in any other convenient-place where the course -of a propelling cable or chain ends or begins. Such cable is intended to he endless; and after it leaves the driving-drum it is conducted through proper guides to the other end of its course, where it is carriedaround a similar drum or pulley, and thence to the cable-guide of the railway track, 'where it is allowed to act upona car or cars in propelling them upon the track. After the cable has reached the end of itsforward course, itis taken by suitable guides to the'driving-drum, where it receives motion bythe constant revolution ofthe drum, said cable being wound around it often 'enough to prevent slipping. The drawing illustrates the operation of thedriving-drum. The

letter C designates the cable, and D D are its heads or fer-rules, which are used to communicate motion to a car by being allowed to come in contact with Va clutch or arm projecting from such car,.said heads or fcrrulesin this example being provided with vertical orsquare spurs or projections, D', which operate against the clutch or arm et' a car by coming Hat against it, as shown in fig. .3, whereV the clutch or arm is shown in red outline. The spurs or projections D may, however', be made with a curved. face, Vlike a hook, and the rear side of the clutch or arm oi' the car' may also be curved so that these parts mayV interlock when they come ini contact with each other. In order to guide the cable vor -chain in its course around the drum, and to prevent its coils from becoming inisplacod,and t'o prevent it from traversing toward the end and running off the drum, I surround the` latter wholly or partly with a spiral guide, Bfwhose threads or coils are. far enough apart -to allow the free and easy passage between themof the cable audits heads or'fcrrules. The sides of thc threads of the guide may be grcoved to receive the edges of the heads or ferrules D, or they 'may be left square and plain, or they may have an overlapping'strip, B', whose edges reach'beyond the edges of the threads and'iom a semi-groove that will prevent the escape of thehends or ferrules from their proper path. The sides of the threads ot` the guido are provided with anti-friction rollers, vwhich prevent friction between the heads or ferrules and the guide. One

l such roller is shown at H, projecting from the face of onc of the threads. When the heads or fcrrules are of the i'orin here shown,I the anti-friction rollers are placed in recesscsmade in the threads of the guide', and so arranged an to insure their contact with the moving heads or ferrules. The guide B is stationary and independent/ot' the drum,a nd does notcome in contact with the surface of said drum, but is 'so near thereto as to efectually guide the cable in its revolution. The drmnA may be used' for two or more cables by extending its length. In snch'oase the guide B on the extension maybe in the reverse direction, so that thc drum may drive two or more cables at one time, permitting the cars propelled by such cables to move in the same direction.

The cable is conducted to and from the driving-druni by moans of guides E, which are so made and arranged as to change the plane of movement of the heads or-ferrules whenever the cable passes a curveor corner, or

whenever on approaehingpr ol: leaving the druinthe heads'or ferrules are required to more in a plane which is at' an angle with the surface'fof the drum. The guides-E, both of ywhich are seen in fig. 2 in'top vieng'rise'alongvside of the surface or periphery of the drum; and their sides, which 'come in contact with the under sides of the vheads-D, are twisted as they are carried upward, for the purpose of twisting or turning the said heads, until they are brought square with the course they are thereafter to take, whetherovcr guiding-pulleys, or through cable-guides like F, or guides like I in fig. 4. In iig.' lthe conducting-guide E begins behind tbe drum, and its front side is gradually bent or twisted as it ascends, until when it has reached the cable-guide F it diagonal to the periphery of the drum, buttat right angles with the plane of the said cable-guide. If the course of the cable requiresit, the conducting-guide E is bent or twisted still more, so as always to cause-the heads or ferrules topresent themselves to the cable-guide in thc same plane therewith. When the cable approaches the drinn, it goes through a. like twisted conducting-guide, so that the heads'come-ilat-against its periphery Pulleys, G, are placed at the angles which occur in th'e course of the cable. Theyinay be arranged so as to be movable in their bearings, or may have bearings in swinging-arms, so that, by .moving the pulleysin the proper direction, the cable will he tightened and its slack taken up; or such tightening-pulleys may be placed elsewhere. The cable` guide F, shown in fig. 3, may, for the purposes of this explanation, be considered `to reach thewhole distance of the course of 'af-cable along a railway track, so as to be above the points where it descends to and ascends from the return course, (during which return course it is supposed to receive motion from one or more driving-- 4drums.) The under side ofthe ca-blc-guidehas suitable openings-llr J, so placed as to permit the cable to enter and leave at the proper places; and if the sides of the guide are channelled or groovcd to receive the edges of the heads or fcrrulcs, such channels or grooves are widened to allen' the heads to enter and leave without binding. I do not limit myself to the forni of heads or ferru-les herein described, but the form thereof can be niodified without departing from the principle of my inventionof moving a car or other body, by letting a spur or projection of a propelling cable push against a car` or otlicn body, or against an arm projecting therefrom. The cable-guide may be continued with the track in both directions, beyond the ascending,` and descending points of the cable, the motion which a car has acquired being' suicicnt to take it to the place where the next cable enters said cable-guide. The heads or ferrules I) slide on their edges or on their under surfaces, and theypi-- vent the cable from becoming displaced or twisted on itself. The pipe or guide K, which conducts the ca'blein its rturn course, (whether above or below grounfh) after it leaves the forward driving-drum, is shown in iig;

Its interior form is modified according to the shape or character of the cable, and of -its heads or ferrules. '.In

said fig. 4 I have'shown three different-shaped heads or fcrrules attached to a; cable, and three modifications of the interior of the pipe or guide K. They are also shown in cross-section in figs. 5, 6, and 7. The pipe isv made in convenient lengths, and in order to obtain access to the cable withinfit at pleasure, uI make said pipe in such a manner that portions of its top or upperside can be removed, or the whole pip'e can be made in longituf dinal sections, whereof one shall be the lower and one the upper, the sections or .divisions of the latter vbeing short in length, so that only a small part of the interior of the pipe need be opened at a time. What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. The combination of a cable-driving drum, A, with the stationary guides B, to control and guide a propelling cable while passing round such driving-drum, substantially as set forth.

2. I also claim the twisting conducting-guide E, between a driving-drum and railway track, or any conducting p'ipe or `guide, substantially as set forth.

I also claim -the construction and 'arrangement of a driving-drum for propelling cables of two' or more independent/stationary guides, coiled in opposite directions, substantially as set forth.

4.. I also claim the construction and arrangement of propelling cables,with heads or ferrulcs,whos e operating faces or spursprcject at right angles 'from the heads, substantially as described. i

5"; I also claim the sliding heads or ferrules for keeping a moving cable in proper position, and preventing it from turning,r in its guides, substantially as set forth.

6. I also claim combining with the spiral guide B, anti-friction rollers for relieving the cable of friction, substantially as described, l

7. 'I'also clain'i' the hollowpipe K, constructed andarranged for conducting a propelling cable, substantially as set forth. v

The above spccication signed by me this twenty-third day of January, 1867. v CHARLES T. HARVEY. Witnesses:

J. VAN SANTvoonD, GEO. F. SOUTHERN. 

